Pepperdine University Athletics Records, 1939-2015

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Abstract:
The collection contains materials related to and produced by Pepperdine University Athletics and its predecessor at George Pepperdine College. Items range in date from approximately 1939 to 2013, and primarily include game programs, sports schedules, brochures, newspaper clippings about athletes and events, photographs of teams, videocassettes, and memorabilia (including uniforms).
Extent:
11.68 Linear Feet (12 boxes, plus an oversized megaphone and drawer)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pepperdine University Athletics records, Collection no. 0077, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains materials related to and produced by Pepperdine University Athletics and its predecessor at George Pepperdine College. Items range in date from approximately 1939 to 2013, and primarily include game programs, sports schedules, brochures, newspaper clippings about athletes and events, photographs of teams, and videocassettes. Materials primarily relate to the sports of football, basketball, golf, water polo, baseball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis. Videocassette topics range from NCAA championship games in baseball and volleyball, stories about the Pepperdine mascot, and tapes of the 1947 Will Rogers Bowl game between Pepperdine and Nebraska Wesleyan in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Also included is a 1998 NCAA Certification Study report. Three boxes and one oversized drawer contain uniforms, pennants, banners, pompoms, Darwin Horn's letterman jacket (GPC '49), and other non-paper memorabilia.

Biographical / historical:

George Pepperdine College and Pepperdine University students have participated in a variety of sports over the decades. Currently, Pepperdine is an NCAA Division I-AAA school (meaning it does not participate in football) and part of the West Coast Conference. As of 2013, Pepperdine students compete in the following sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, track, volleyball, water polo, sand volleyball, soccer, and swimming.

Pepperdine's football team was active from 1946 to 1961. The football program started soon after World War II ended as a result of an influx of returning servicemen students interested in picking up a sport. Their first game was September 28, 1946, in which they won against Whittier College. The team had a good second season, and was named the 1947 National Small College Champion. By the end of the 1950s, the team was not as successful and the sport was expensive to maintain, so the program was dropped in 1961.

The team name of "Waves" and the school colors (blue and orange, to represent the blue of the Pacific Ocean and the orange of the State of California) were chosen in 1937. The mascot was originally named Roland the Wave, but for nearly 60 years the mascot has been Willie the Wave.

Pepperdine has had approximately 50 athletes compete in the Olympics, from 1956 to the present. A former Olympian and Pepperdine water polo player, Terry Schroeder, currently coaches men's water polo at Pepperdine. During the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, water polo matches were held at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool at Pepperdine.

Athletic history and sport lists were taken from the Pepperdine University Athletics website.

Acquisition information:
Materials in the collection were collected from the University Archives files. Memorabilia including cheerleading uniforms and other outfits, a flag, plastic megaphones, and pennants were transferred to the archives from Pepperdine University Athletics in August, 2012. The letterman jacket was donated by Darwin Horn in January, 2012.
Processing information:

The collection was arranged and described by Jamie Henricks in January, 2013. Kendal Copeland, a Pepperdine Special Collections and University Archives Intern, added a folder list to the finding aid in fall 2013, under the supervision of Katie Richardson. Photographs were added to the collection by Kelsey Knox in July, 2015.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: 1. Printed Materials; 2. Photographs; 3. Memorabilia; and 4. Audiovisual Materials.

Physical location:
Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Pepperdine University Athletics records, Collection no. 0077, Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Pepperdine University.

Location of this collection:
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4786, US
Contact:
(310) 506-4323
specialcollections@pepperdine.edu
Website